ACADEMY OF ACTIVE PARENTS
by Rasa Bortkevičienė | direktorius@kaunosic.lt
Photo: Tomas Preikša
Kaunas Education Innovation Centre has been organizing a cycle of free lectures called “Academy of Active Parents” for more than five years. The lectures are dedicated to parents who want to get to know, understand and protect their children better, to find ways to develop their competencies according to their natural powers, character traits, experience and educational needs to ensure the individual progress of every child. The lectures are especially focused on modern approaches to the mental health of children and adults. During the pandemic, it is of utmost importance to know how and to be able to efficiently enhance and protect the emotional health of every person. Recently, the attendance of parents in the lectures has increased up to 5 times in comparison to the pre-pandemic period. Lecturers with extensive experience and competencies (including psychologists, psychiatrists, psychotherapists, teachers, lawyers, police officers and book authors) share useful pieces of advice, recommendations on how to communicate with and help the child, answer the questions of the participants. According to the professionals, mutual trust and parental leadership are the most important elements in the life of every child. It is essential to develop emotional wisdom: to expand the spectrum of emotions, to develop self-control, self-awareness skills, as well as social awareness, to cultivate mutual relations, to manage personal emotional states. Emotional safety at home is especially relevant for children. It is advised to talk to the child about emotions, to help the child recognize and name as much as emotions as possible. It is also useful for parents to take time to think about and evaluate the emotions they experience themselves. It is suggested to relieve the stress not only by speaking openly, but also by applying specially designed methods, physical stress reduction exercises. At the beginning of the school year, lectures are organized for parents to help their children to adapt to the educational institution and the process of attending pre-school or
other educational institution. As the secondary education or other exam session approaches, respectful lectures are organized on how to help children to manage their relevant stress during the preparation. At the end of the school year, the topics of the lectures are traditionally reoriented, focusing entirely on the safety of children and their environment. The lecture “Let’s Welcome the Summer Safely” for parents is organised by community officers of Public Order Board of Kaunas County Police Headquarters. Their insights and consultations provide assistance in getting better prepared for the holiday season. It is important to remind the citizens, especially children, young people and their family members the basic principles of self-protection: how to protect themselves and others on the streets, traffic safety rules, pieces of advice for the drivers of scooter that are becoming more and more popular, cyclists, warnings about the dangers that await the vacation-goers near the water. Finally, it is essential to know exactly how to respond to an accident, where to turn for help so that it can be provided as quickly as possible, in order to avoid painful consequences. It is equally significant important to draw the attention of the parents to the potential dangers that await the children in the cyberspace. It is advised to take interest in what your children do online, what pages they visit and who they interact with. The schedule of lectures is prepared every six months and published on the website of Kaunas Education Innovation Centre, moreover, the relevant information is disseminated to the school communities directly. Institutions are actively involved in sharing the information with the parents of the schoolchildren by inviting them to attend the events. 60 lectures for parents were organised during 2016–2021. 3757 citizens of Kaunas attended the lectures. “Academy of Active Parents” receives more recognition from the residents of Kaunas every year, thus, enhancing the interest of the audience and the ranks of the listeners respectively. 9
